"You’re selling your goods there?" Su Chen asked in surprise.

Ming Lin nodded. "That’s right. That place is a Life Star with a fairly developed trade sector. They sell a lot of special minerals to outsiders, so it’s become a sort of trading hub over time. It draws all sorts of people, which makes it convenient."

’No wonder the Divine Son arrived at those two places first.’

Su Chen said thoughtfully, "In that case, you must be pretty familiar with the place. Does the patrol team have much pull there?"

"It’s not bad. After that guy Meng Shiyu died..." As he said this, a strange look crossed Ming Lin’s face.

’He hadn’t expected to learn of Meng Shiyu’s death so soon after mentioning him...’

Collecting his thoughts, he continued, "After that guy died, what with the business with Qin Yun and your background, things have been very smooth for the patrol team. We’re well-respected."

"That’s good." Su Chen nodded, then said, "Soon, I’m going to have you arrest two people who seem to be Deceitful God’s Followers. Your job is to inadvertently discover that there’s something off about them."

"Arrest Deceitful God’s Followers?" Ming Lin was startled. He couldn’t help but wonder, ’Su Chen stays on his Floating Island all day. Where is he getting this information?’

Although he was curious, Ming Lin didn’t ask. He just considered the feasibility of the plan.

After a moment, he replied, "It shouldn’t be a big problem. The patrol team is responsible for investigating suspicious individuals anyway. I just need to lock onto them, send a few people to investigate, and pretend to find some clues before reporting it."

"Mmm," Su Chen said after a moment’s thought. "But these two will be very strong. How can we mobilize Advanced Professionals?"

"Then we’ll have to activate the emergency protocols. As long as we confirm there’s a problem with them, the explanation afterward is relatively simple. We can just say it was out of caution, that we had an informant, or something..."

As he spoke, he paused. He suddenly recalled that Su Chen had used this exact method to arrest quite a few people back on Red Thunder Star.

A suspicious look entered his eyes. He strongly suspected Su Chen was leading him, not actually asking for advice.

"Anyway, as long as there’s really something wrong with them, it’ll be fine," he concluded.

Su Chen nodded and told him to wait for his signal.

...

"Qin Yun is missing? Along with people from the Royal Court and the Lost Flame..."

A slender spaceship emerged from a Teleportation Star Gate. Qing Cang stood before a porthole, his expression dark and uncertain.

While teleporting through the Star Gate, he had been cut off from outside news, only learning what had happened after emerging.

The initial, tense standoff was already over; what he received was the latest update.

"The Royal Court was too reckless. And those other fools actually believed them without checking with us first." Beside him, an old man with a full head of red hair had a grim expression.

"There must have been other factors at play," Qing Cang said, his eyes glinting. "Besides, who wouldn’t want to get their hands on the secrets of the Sun Tier?"

"Easy for you to say..." the red-haired old man snorted. "It’s not even certain if it was left behind by a dead Sun Tier expert."

"We’ll just have to wait. An explanation will come eventually." Qing Cang sighed, his gaze turning to another Star Gate. This was just a transfer point; they needed to make one more jump to reach the Sect.

Only after reviewing this critical news did he have a chance to look at other information, scrolling rapidly through a virtual screen.

Soon, his face froze. "Su Chen... is Tier Five?"

"This... that’s not right."

He wasn’t too surprised, as he already knew Su Chen possessed the strength of a top Tier Five expert despite being only Tier Four.

But his promotion to Tier Five had happened while Qing Cang himself was in transit through the Teleportation Star Gate.

’It’s definitely not the Dual Ink Jade Talent...’ he wondered suspiciously. ’What is going on with this kid...?’

"Already Tier Five..." The red-haired old man glanced over, equally surprised.

"Mmm." Qing Cang snapped back to reality and quickly shut off the virtual screen.

"Dual Ink Jade Talent..." the red-haired old man said scornfully. "You really hid that one well. The ’Dual Ink Jade Talent’ must have baited quite a few people, didn’t it?"

Su Chen’s name had been causing a huge stir recently, so he knew that Qing Cang had come to the Profound Celestial Sect specifically to enhance Su Chen’s Talent.

He had thought that Su Chen truly possessed the Dual Ink Jade Talent. Now, it was clear that was impossible. Qing Cang had deceived everyone.

Qing Cang’s expression shifted, but he remained silent.

The red-haired old man lamented, "The Bronze Sect’s legacy is in good hands. All of their Morning Star Tier Spiritualities have a chosen successor."

"If they’re lucky, they can use the Profound Celestial Instrument to elevate one of his Talents to Star Amber, or even Dual-Star Amber... Tsk, tsk..."

Qing Cang shook his head and said flatly, "That’s the best-case scenario. Reaching Single-Star Amber would be good enough."

The Profound Celestial Instrument wasn’t all-powerful, which the red-haired old man knew, yet he couldn’t help but sigh. "I heard he also gained the recognition of the Ancient King Stele. He might have a shot at becoming an Ancient King."

He was genuinely envious. The Profound Celestial Sect currently only had two Star Seeds, with a few chosen candidates currently maneuvering for them.

But a potential successor to the Ancient King had yet to emerge.

"Ancient King..." Qing Cang frowned slightly and did not say more.

...

「On Copper Heart, Su Chen’s Floating Island. In the training room.」

Tongues of golden-red fire licked every inch of his body. Possessing a will of their own, they frantically burrowed toward the bones in his torso and limbs.

His bones emitted a fine, dense CRACKLING from within the flames. It sounded like damp wood splitting in a bonfire, only crisper.

His skin and muscle tissue had turned semi-transparent, and the flames that bored into his body acted like the most precise forging hammers, striking his bones again and again.

His skeleton faintly glowed with the dark golden luster of metal heated to an extreme temperature.

In an instant, the surging flames around him vanished.

Su Chen slowly opened his eyes and called up his status panel—the two portions of Faceless Ghost Essence had finished fusing.

He had been waiting a long time for this. He immediately applied the results to his Hundred Refinement Forger and Soldier Master classes.

He had already used a previously fused portion on his Holy Mark Physician class, erasing its third advancement requirement: the one about collecting a pile of materials and performing a perfect surgery.

Su Chen had discreetly made some inquiries. The materials weren’t individually precious, but specifically collecting them all would have easily alerted the Lan Family. Getting rid of that requirement was for the best.

The remaining requirement, however—to heal the injuries of over 5,000 people—was also a hassle. The upside was that there were no time limits or stipulations on the severity of the injuries, so he didn’t need to rush.

’Perhaps I can use the Creation Copper Heart to complete this requirement quickly, but I’ll have to break into the top 100 of the Holy List first... I’ll wait until after I advance the Soldier Master class...’

While he was lost in thought, the results appeared on his panel.

The requirement for Hundred Refinement Forger to continuously strike oneself with a great hammer was erased. For the special fusion-type class, Soldier Master, the requirement to devour weapons was erased.

"Ha..." Su Chen’s face lit up when he saw the result.

He didn’t particularly care which requirement for Hundred Refinement Forger was removed; no matter which one it was, the rest were just a matter of time.

But the one erased for Soldier Master was perfect. That requirement was truly a pain.

He not only had to devour weapons, but they also had to be of a Tier no lower than his own.

Biting into Tier Five Weapons would be difficult enough, let alone swallowing them. The process would likely be excruciating. It was for the best that it was gone.

Now, Holy Mark Physician only required him to heal people, Hundred Refinement Forger only required him to collect and absorb furnace embers, and Soldier Master only required him to forge weapons with his bare hands and strip their Spiritual properties.

"Time to get started." Su Chen rubbed his hands together eagerly. It would still take some time to collect the Cunning Fox and Crimson Essence, but that didn’t conflict with completing the other requirements.

The easiest one was Hundred Refinement Forger.

"Embers of a century-old furnace fire..." He opened the Sect’s internal exchange system and quickly found the item. The image showed a bell-shaped mass of fire, still burning.

Its core was a nearly blinding-white spot, which gradually radiated outward into shades of golden-red and dark red, finally ending in a charred-black edge.

"Oof, that’s not cheap..." Su Chen muttered, looking at the description. Next to it was a number: one hundred thousand Contribution Points.

This item was classified as a rare resource and could only be exchanged with Contribution Points.

But... he actually had enough. Next to his personal profile was the number 200,000—the exact amount of Contribution Points he had accumulated.

He had so many precisely because he had turned in the Netherworld Mother Stone.

The reason he occasionally went through official channels to the mining district, putting on a show of mining, was to launder the Netherworld Stones he possessed.

He needed the Deceitful God’s Power, but he also had many needs within the Sect. Earning Contribution Points by completing missions was too much of a hassle; submitting rare resources was far more convenient.

He made the exchange directly. It would be delivered within twenty-four hours.

"So fast and convenient." Su Chen shut off the virtual screen, sighing in admiration.